


Frozen Raindrops

by niamosaur



Series: nightingales on paper [3]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2013-12-23
Packaged: 2018-01-05 17:09:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1096443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niamosaur/pseuds/niamosaur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall, broken, alone and scared, meets a stranger in a club.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Frozen Raindrops

Niall sits on the uncomfortable hard stool at the end of the bar, his bright blue eyes scanning the insanely compacted club. The tingling inside his head won't stop. It's as if he isn't alone, as if someone is calling his name from afar. He knows this is completely stupid though, considering the fact that he's in a room filled with random drunk people who knows none about him; he's just moved here. Still, the creepy, erratic feeling keeps nagging at him.

People dance to the blaring music that rattles the floor, the strobe lights piercing through the atmosphere thick with the stinging scent of alcohol and smoke.

Niall sighs, giving up his pointless search. He's just going insane. Or maybe he's just tired of searching. Searching for a permanent home, for someone who will accept him for who he is.

In his 19 years of miserable existence, he had tried to find somebody who won't abandon him, leave him in the dark with nothing but the curse he has been given. That kind of somebody is either really really really rare or they don't exist at all because his search has gained him nothing. Nothing but a handful of horrifying memories.

Niall could still remember very clearly how the people whom he had poured his heart to called him a freak. A demon. A scum of the earth.

There came a time when se finally believed them, after years of painful stubborness, and he spaced himself from being too close to anyone who he knows will just add to his suffering. That anyone being everyone. And now he's all alone with no one whom he could share his burden with, his experiences with. He is meant to carry all the pain by himself for the rest of his life.

Niall hasn't noticed that tears are travelling down his rose-tainted cheeks, or that a stranger sat beside him, until he was handed a handkerchief. He looked up, surprised. The stranger only smiled in response, and Niall felt his heart skip. His heart was just stupid that way.

The guy looked just as young as he was with caramel brown hair and gorgeous, deep brown eyes. Niall stared at the stranger's eyes, and something in him ignited. It's as if, somehow, they were connected. Like they had long been friends in another life time. He didn't really look familiar, feature-wise, but still the feeling that they were somehow connected flared inside of Niall.

"Here, take it," said the guy with a fond smile, still holding the handkerchief. Niall quickly broke his gaze and felt his cheeks heat up, reluctantly taking the fabric. He softly wiped it across his cheeks. "Liam, by the way."

He was looking intently at him, and a growing feeling nipped at Niall's insides. It scared him, but he didn't pull away from Liam's gaze. He didn't want to.

"I'm Niall."

Liam grinned.

"You look new here."

"Yeah."

Niall still felt apprehensive, cautious, but there was something in Liam that made him comfortable and relaxed. And then he realized that he had just given him his real name. He never does that. Panic began to swell in his chest. If Liam finds out about everything, he is sure the police would use his name to find him and then they would pull experiments on him. Or maybe even kill him.

Liam flashed Niall a brilliant genuine smile, and somehow he felt at ease, something he hadn't experienced for a long time. He didn't really like it, but he didn't exactly hate it either. He pulled a small smile.

"Want a drink?" Liam asked. Niall sas reluctant, but nodded his head all the same. "Great!"

Liam waved to the bartender, who nodded and soon appeared with two glasses of tequila. Liam handed Niall a glass.

"To life," Liam said, raising his glass for a toast. Niall did the same, hiding a scowl.

"To life," he repeated glumly. He added in a bitter huff of breath, "To stupid, pathetic, unfair life."

Their glasses made a clink as they collided softly.

The night drew in deeper, and the strong scent of alcohol and smoke whirled about the dense atmosphere. Niall and Liam talked about everything and nothing -- politics, plants, carrots, and some other stuff that Niall knew none about. They kept laughing and smiling and grinning at each other, alcohol slightly buzzing in their systems.

It was pretty amazing how miserable could turn to amazing in a matter of minutes. Or had it been hours? Niall didn't know, and he honestly couldn't care less. This was the best night he had had in his whole life.

"This is amazing," he said, grinning.

"You're amazing," Liam replied.

"No. You are," Niall argued, smiling half-heartedly. How could someone like him be amazing? Liam knew him thoroughly, if he ever knew the little secret Niall hid, he wouldn't be saying that.

"You are."

Niall hadn't realized just how close his and Liam's face had become, and his breath hitched. His heart thrummed angrily against his chest, his mind racing from A to Z in two seconds. This was an all new feeling, and all new emotion other than loneliness and pain. It scared him. He could feel Liam's breath fanning over his lips, his eyes fixed on Niall's and there seemed to be a meaningful flare in them.

"You are so amazing," Liam whispered, slowly leaning in to close the gap between them.

Niall's thoughts began to scramble. He didn't know what to do. Didn't understand the new, burning sensation inside of him. Liam's lips were so close Niall could just feel their slightest touch on his, when he abruptly pulled away.

He made a mad dash towards the exit, pushing his way against the crowd. He reached for the handles and stepped outside, and the bitter coldness nipped at his face.

It was raining, hard, the heavy drops of water smashing to the ground like gunshots. Only the orange street lights illuminated the dark street, not a single living soul in sight. He let the water pelt against his milky skin as he walked briskly along the sidewalk.

His head was spinning. He felt dizzy. There was somehing in him that badly wanted to taste Liam's lips, but the another part --the clearer, more common one-- was afraid. He was scared that Liam would leave him if he finds out what kind of freak he is. He was frightened of being abandoned again, that horrible feeling of ripping his guts apart.

It was better this way, he convinced himself. It was better that he was the who gets to abandon than be abandoned. He heard footsteps, quickly locking in on him as he paced up.

"Niall, wait!" shouted Liam. He ignored him. "Please, stop! Don't leave!"

"Leave me alone," Niall huffed, keeping a straight face as he surged through the rain, though his insides felt like being clawed. His wet clothes were weighing him down, and he felt extremely tired. He hadn't realized that his pace had slowed.

He felt Liam's hands wrap around his arm as he caught up with him.

He made an angry, abrupt turn, his sodden bleached blond hair slightly whipping on top of his head which had cause water droplets to sprinkle from them. "What do you want, Liam?!" he screamed, his chest tightening with frustration. He thought leaving someone was much easier than being abandoned. He thought it wasn't as painful as being left. He didn't understand why it was the other way around, why it was so hard to leave Liam. He was irritated with himself, Liam, everything.

"I want you to tell me why you're so afraid," Liam answered firmly, his gaze boring holes on Niall's eyes. Niall had enough.

"Fine! You really want to know why?! Because of this!"

In a flash, it stopped raining. No. It only stopped moving . The droplets of water hang frozen in the air, as though suspened by an invisible thread. It was as if time itself had stopped then and there.

"Because of this, Liam! Because of this I had to endure a life of being alone, a life of being abandoned and left! Because I'm a freak!" Niall was now crying, but he kept his blury eyes on Liam who looked at the frozen rain drops around him. "Go on now, then. Tell me I'm a freak! A scum of the earth! Leave me hhere and act as if I'm some kind of monster. Because that's what I am, isn't it?!"

Niall let the tears roll relentlessly. He wasn't normally like this. He maybe lonely and hopeless and shattered, but he never once cried in front of somebody. Liam was just . . .he was persuasive and so fucking caring for a stranger. Niall didn't know how to cope with his feelings for Liam, so he let the tears flow.

Liam's eyes softened when he saw Niall's broken expression. He tried to wrap his arms around Niall, but the lad only pushed him away. "Don't touch me. I'm a freak," he said miserably, burying his face in his hands.

Gently, Liam placed his fingers on Niall's chin, turning his face so that he could look into his eyes. Niall's arms dropped limply to his sides, sniffing.

"No. No you're not. You are amazing, Niall. Don't let people make you think otherwise,'' Liam said softly, and Niall felt his anger and frustration melt away.

But what Liam had said didn't change the fact that she was different, and different means he's a freak. That's what the people had embossed into his mind. He slowly pulled away from Liam's gaze.

"But I'm not like you," he whispered, almost inaudibly. "I'm different."

There was an uneasy silence. Niall knew what was to come next -- the abandonment, the exile -- but he didn't want to believe it.

"I-I've been feeling you for awhile now." Niall turned to Liam again, brows knitting in confusion, but the other lad was currently looking at nothing in particular on the side of the road. "The tingles I get when people like me are nearby. The itch that I just can't scratch at the back of my head. I've only felt it once other time in my life. It was the first time I felt my mom, her powers. I asked her about it, and she told me it's some sort of warning device installed right in our heads so that we can tell if some one like us is nearby.

 

"Since then, I've been dying to know other like me. What powers they have. But my mother -- very reluctantly, might I add -- told me that our species is now ver rare because we've been hunted then. Killed. In medieval times when people thought we practiced dark magic or whatever. I began to lose hope.

"But then I got these tingles, just a few days ago, and I started to roam the city to find where they're coming from. And then I found you." At the last part, Liam finally looked at Niall.

He looked intently at him, his eyes glinting with wonder and something Niall couldn't detect. He was waiting for a response, but Niall was speechless.

"I-I don't understand," he murmured.

"Let me show you then." Liam grinned, raising his index finger. Niall watched intently, curiosity and confusion evident on his face.

A spark ignited at the very tip, growing into a tiny blue flame that swooshed silently against the weak wind. Niall let out a gasp as he stood in shock as his mouth hang open. Liam smiled.

"You're not alone. You don't have to be," he said, the flame disappearing. He started to lean in closer, and Niall felt his mad heart beat again, breathing slightly erratic."I'm here." Liam's breath fanned faintly on his lips, sending a rush of blood through Niall's systems.

Their lips touched, and the frozen rain drops started to fall again.


End file.
